The Provisional Polish Revolutionary Committee (, Polrewkom; , ) (July–August 1920) was a revolutionary committee established during the

Polish–Soviet War The Polish–Soviet War (14 February 1919 – 18 March 1921) was fought primarily between the Second Polish Republic and the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, following World War I and the Russian Revolution. After the collapse ...

under the patronage of the

Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

with the goal to establish a

soviet republic A soviet republic (from ), also called council republic, is a republic in which the government is formed of soviets (workers' councils) and politics are based on soviet democracy. During the Revolutions of 1917–1923, various revolutionary ...

within

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, or a Polish Soviet Socialist Republic constituent in the

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until it dissolved in 1991. During its existence, it was the largest country by are ...

History

Polrevkom was created on 23 July 1920, in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

by the Polish Bureau of

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

s, with chairman

Julian Marchlewski Julian Baltazar Józef Marchlewski (17 May 1866 – 22 March 1925) was a Polish communist politician, revolutionary activist and publicist who served as chairman of the Provisional Polish Revolutionary Committee. He was also known under the aliase ...

. The decision was made during the initial successes of the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

during the

with the goal of providing administration of the Polish territories. The committee was declared "provisional", because it was assumed that after a Soviet victory the power would be transferred to the Polish Communist Workers' Party. The Polrevkom was assembled on 24 July in

Smolensk Smolensk is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River, west-southwest of Moscow. First mentioned in 863, it is one of the oldest cities in Russia. It has been a regional capital for most of ...

, with its headquarters in an

armored train An armoured train (Commonwealth English) or armored train (American English) is a railway train protected with vehicle armour, heavy metal plating and which often includes railway wagons armed with artillery, machine guns, and autocannons. So ...

, which quickly proceeded to

Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...

(25 July),

Wilno Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

(27 July), and arrived to

Białystok Białystok is the largest city in northeastern Poland and the capital of the Podlaskie Voivodeship. It is the List of cities and towns in Poland, tenth-largest city in Poland, second in terms of population density, and thirteenth in area. Biał ...

on 30 July 1920. It set up permanent headquarters in the Branicki Palace and issued public proclamations. For their efforts they received from Moscow over 2 billion

ruble The ruble or rouble (; rus, рубль, p=rublʲ) is a currency unit. Currently, currencies named ''ruble'' in circulation include the Russian ruble (RUB, ₽) in Russia and the Belarusian ruble (BYN, Rbl) in Belarus. These currencies are s ...

s. It is seen, like many other Bolshevik revolutionary committees, as a Bolshevik

puppet government A puppet state, puppet régime, puppet government or dummy government is a State (polity), state that is ''de jure'' independent but ''de facto'' completely dependent upon an outside Power (international relations), power and subject to its ord ...

Evan Mawdsley Evan Mawdsley (born 1945) is a British historian and former Professor of International History at the University of Glasgow's School of Humanities. He is currently a Professorial Research Fellow. He specialises in Russian history and the history ...

, ''The Russian Civil War'', Pegasus Books, 2007
Google Print, p.255
/ref> The committee consisted of the following members: * Julian Baltazar Marchlewski (Chairman) *

Feliks Dzierżyński Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky (; ; – 20 July 1926), nicknamed Iron Felix (), was a Soviet revolutionary and politician of Polish origin. From 1917 until his death in 1926, he led the first two Soviet secret police organizations, the Cheka a ...

(de facto leader) *

Feliks Kon Feliks Yakovlevich Kon (18 May 1864 – 30 July 1941) was a Polish communist activist, politician, ethnographer, publicist and journalist. He was the editor-in-chief of the Soviet satirical magazine, ''Krokodil''. Life and career Born in ...

(Education) *

Edward Próchniak Edward Próchniak (; 4 December 1888 in Puławy – 21 August 1937) was a leading Polish communist activist and one of the founders of the Communist Party of Poland. He joined the Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania in 1903 ...

(Secretary) *

Józef Unszlicht Józef Unszlicht or Iosif Stanislavovich Unshlikht (; nicknames "Jurowski", "Leon"; 31 December 1879 – 29 July 1938) was a Polish and Russian revolutionary activist, a Soviet government official and one of the founders of the Cheka. Biography ...

(Party) *

Bernard Zaks Bernard (''Bernhard'') is a French and West Germanic masculine given name. It has West Germanic origin and is also a surname. The name is attested from at least the 9th century. West Germanic ''Bernhard'' is composed from the two elements ''bern ...

(Industry) * Stanisław Bobiński (Agriculture) *

Tadeusz Radwański ''Tadeusz'' is a Polish first name, derived from Thaddaeus. Tadeusz may refer to: * Tadeusz Bednarowicz (1906–1939), Polish footballer * Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski (1895–1966), Polish military leader * Tadeusz Borowski (1922–1951), Polish wr ...

(Propaganda) The Polrevkom activity was related to the

North-Western Front The Northwestern Front (Russian: ''Северо-Западный фронт'') was a military formation of the Red Army during the Winter War and World War II. It was operational with the 7th and 13th Armies during the Winter War. It was re-c ...

of the Red Army. The South-Western front of the Red Army supported a similar

Galician Revolutionary Committee The Galician Soviet Socialist Republic was a short-lived, self-declared Bolshevik political entity that existed from 15 July to formally 21 September 1920 with the capital in the city of Tarnopol (Ternopil). The communist state was established d ...

(''Galrevkom''), seated in

Tarnopol Ternopil, known until 1944 mostly as Tarnopol, is a city in western Ukraine, located on the banks of the Seret (river), Seret River. Ternopil is one of the major cities of Western Ukraine and the historical regions of Galicia (Central Europe ...

in Eastern Galicia. The TKRP was met with relative enthusiasm in Białystok which had about 75% Jewish and working class majority. However, as the Red Army moved on towards Warsaw, it and Polrewkom had little support from the Polish population.

Ronald Grigor Suny Ronald Grigor Suny (born September 25, 1940) is an American-Armenian historian and political scientist. Suny is the William H. Sewell Jr. Distinguished University Professor of History Emeritus at the University of Michigan and served as directo ...

, ''The Soviet Experiment: Russia, the USSR, and the Successor States'', Oxford University Press,
Google Print, p.106
/ref> On 22 August 1920 the Polrevkom moved out of Białystok to Minsk with the defeat of the Red Army, and was dissolved soon afterwards. A significant number of the key persons involved were later instrumental in creation of the

Polish Autonomous District Polish National Districts (called in Russian "полрайоны", ''polrajony'', an abbreviation for "польские национальные районы", "Polish national raions") were national districts of the Soviet Union in the interb ...

within the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

Notes

References

* Davies, Norman, ''White Eagle, Red Star: the Polish-Soviet War, 1919-20'', Pimlico, 2003, . (First edition: St. Martin's Press, inc., New York, 1972) * {{Authority control Polish–Soviet War

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

Second Polish Republic–Soviet Union relations Provisional governments

Communism in Poland